


four pieces of the same age puzzle

by asdf8975



Category: IZONE (Band)
Genre: 01 line, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24057514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asdf8975/pseuds/asdf8975
Summary: A one-shot collection surrounding IZ*ONE’s “01 Line”, Minjoo, Nako, Hitomi, and Yuri.-----03 spam sandwiches: "I... no?" Minjoo responded after Yuri managed to run out of breath, "Actually, speaking about food—"Yuri's nose scrunched up and she peered over Minjoo’s shoulder, "Is that... something burning?"04 disappearing americanos: Nako smiled, “Now you understand and won’t tell Hii-chan about her missing coffee because you’re just as equally guilty as I am.” Her smile widened when Minjoo’s face contorted to shock and betrayal after.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	1. senbai-koubai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The concept of same age friends are explained to Nako and Hitomi in different ways. And not everyone will understand it right away, but that's okay.

“Hey, Hii-chan. Do you know about _‘same age friends’_?” 

Hitomi stopped doing her body roll for ‘Rollin’ Rollin’ in front of the dance mirror when she heard the question directed to her suddenly. Even though everyone was done for the day with concept evaluation practice, she still wanted to perfect her form and start thinking about her “free dance”. The others seemed to have an idea but she couldn’t think of anything. Despite her preference in dance, free dancing was always difficult. 

Her eyes glanced to the side of the practice room, one Yabuki Nako seated, her legs crossed and an elbow propped on a knee as she leaned on the palm with one headphone in her ear. She stared at sheets of paper with various of Korean and Japanese characters written all over. Nako seemed to be reading, but there was an inquisitive look in her eyes, and it wasn’t over the song she was practicing.

“ _‘Same age friends?’_ ” Hitomi repeated, stretching as she walked over to the Japanese trainee. She plopped next to Nako, reaching for her water bottle in the bag nearby and taking a gracious gulp. 

A paper fell as Nako directed her attention to her now, “Yeah, Yuri was talking about it today during our break. She got mad at me when I called her formally.” A sheepish smile curled on Nako’s lips. To Hitomi she almost thought Nako did it just to tease the other girl, but she didn’t know for sure. 

“She went on saying something like ‘hey, we’re the same, let’s be casual!’ Gyuri-unnie had to explain to me about ‘same age’ friends…”

Hitomi scratched her head and placed her bottle down, “Same age friends…” 

“She’s born in 2001, the same as us, which makes us the same age.” Nako explained, “Our age can reflect the type of language we use with each other. At least in Korean.” 

A soft hum left Hitomi’s lips as she nodded, she vaguely knew about it after reading and talking to Nayoung about formalities (they were close despite Nayoung being younger). They had formalities in Japanese but it stemmed from the relationship that the two individuals had and the different situations. Even in Japanese, formalities and languages were just as difficult. 

“Then… same age friends are casual with each other?” 

“Right.” 

Hitomi took another gracious gulp. It was still somewhat of a foreign concept that she’s still getting used to. Heck, even when she spoke in Japanese, she still slipped into polite form with most of the remaining Japanese trainees--even her conversations with Nako still had some politeness to it. She just couldn’t drop the seniority that easily between them. 

She blinked after she lowered her water bottle, Nako crept forward when she spaced out with her thoughts. There was a hidden gleam in her dark eyes that made small goosebumps crawl on her arms. 

“N-Nako-chan?” 

“Should we try it? Being casual because we’re the same age?” 

She flushed at Nako’s closeness, leaning away and held up her bottle to hide herself. “Y-You know I can’t do it that easily…” Her voice came out meekly. “Y-You’re still my senior. T-Think about all the manners we grew up with, everything that our parents taught us…” She started to babble senselessly and Nako laughed as she moved away from her personal bubble. 

“It’s okay.” Nako flashed an understanding smile. “Anyways, it looks like your body roll improved. I know your group was really critiqued on that.” 

A bashful grin turned on her lips. “Thank you. I was really worried about that part since everyone practiced it endlessly while we were gone.” Now reminded, she sighed at the second worry she had on her mind. “I still need to figure out what to do for the _I just wanna dance, just wanna dance_ part…” She even sang the line cutely with a pout. 

Hitomi’s eyes glanced across, looking for ideas from Nako. 

Nako immediately tapped her palm as she stood up straight. “If it was me, I would…” She raised her hands, her pinky and thumb pointed outwards as the rest curled to her palm, and flicked her wrists in a _very familiar formation_. In just that brief second, Hitomi forgot all about formalities and seniority as she took the towel from her bag and threw it at Nako (who flopped over, laughing).

“M-Mou, Nako-chan! I was being _serious_. Copying TWICE-san's choreography will get me removed!”

Even though she tried to show her annoyance, Hitomi joined in with Nako’s laughter soon after. 

* * *

Nako was practicing the expressions she wanted to use in _We Together_ when she heard her name being called. She turned around in confusion as someone wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Nako! My same age friend! _Friend!_ _Tomodachi_!" 

Yuri called in every language she could think of, making the Japanese trainee raise a brow in suspicion. Her arms lowered as she tilted her head upwards, " _Yuri-san, what is it?_ " A sly grin turned on her lips as she asked Yuri in Japanese. 

"Yah, I know you just called me formally again." She pinched Nako's side playfully, "Myao-unnie taught me!" She puffed out her chest in pride, remembering the small Japanese lesson one of the older Japanese trainees taught her. She shook Nako’s shoulder after, “Anyways, that’s not the point! I found another person to join the brigade.” 

Nako blinked in surprise, “Another person? Brigade?” She repeated the words, not quite understanding the last part. What did _brigade_ even mean?

“Unit! Another one for our same age friend unit.” Yuri clarified and hollered out after, “Minjoo!” 

From the corner of the room where some of their group members were practicing, one of the Korean trainees turned her head, blinking in surprise at her name being called. After finishing the small dance lesson she was taking, she strolled over. “Yuri?” 

“Same age friends unit.” Yuri repeated, gesturing to all three of them.

Nako blinked, confused on why Yuri was so hooked on this “same age unit”, but it must be a way for them to communicate with each other in a more casual context. She wasn’t even sure where Yuri was getting all this energy from, Yuri generally was more quiet, it was Yena who dragged all of them around when she was here.

Perhaps Yuri was learning from the older Korean trainee.

Nako glanced at Minjoo, slowly tilting her head forward in a greeting. Minjoo repeated the same action. 

She honestly only knew Minjoo in passing, Hitomi always praised her and had been close for a while now.

“We have to teach Nako how to be more casual with us.” Yuri explained to Minjoo, as she patted Nako’s shoulder. “You can’t learn that from textbooks.” Minjoo raised a brow, equally as confused but slowly nodded, agreeing with her.

“Watch us.” The vocalist unwrapped her arm from Nako’s shoulder, and turned to Minjoo. She put on a stern face.

“Ya, Minjoo, go get me some water.” 

Minjoo blinked, “O...kay?” She hesitantly replied, turning around to go fetch Yuri a bottle of water, but yelped as the latter pulled her wrist back, shaking her head, and stared at her. Nako watched in amusement at the silent staring contest that went on until it finally clicked into Minjoo what she was supposed to say.

Minjoo cleared her throat, “Y-Yah, go get it yourself.” She slapped Yuri’s shoulder after. Yuri made an exaggerated sigh, “Come with me then. We can sneak some snacks too.”

At the mention of snacks, Minjoo’s eyes lit up. “Really? Let’s go then!” She wrapped an arm around Yuri’s arm, excited to take a break and eat something delicious. The entire fabrication gone over her head now. It was Yuri’s turn to be confused because she thought this was all an act to help Nako and even overcome their awkwardness with each other and be closer. 

She made a noise of protest when Minjoo started to drag her away, she even reached out to Nako, crying out an accented “ _Help me!_ ” in Japanese.

Nako laughed, amused at how the tables turned for Yuri. She waved bye teasingly and glanced around at the other trainees in the room. Everyone else seemed to be in their own world, practicing for the upcoming finals. She glanced at the clock in the room, thinking what she should do. 

Perhaps a break would be nice right now.

She chased after Yuri and Minjoo, smiling to herself. This “same age” concept was nice, and something she could definitely get used to if she was able to debut with them.

* * *

“Yesterday, Chaeyeon-unnie was trying to get Hii-chan and Nako to talk to each other casually.” 

Yuri was at the refreshments table that was set out for them while the older members in their group were getting their hair and make up done, casually talking to Minjoo who was also getting snacks and drinks. Minjoo blinked, “Really? I thought Hii-chan and Nako were close?” 

Both members shared the same thought; they remembered how much the two Japanese members in question were with each other during Produce 48 and even after. They posted photos on their Instagram and Twitter of their outings before they moved to Korea. 

“According to Kkura-unnie, they still use _“polite speech”_ even though they use nicknames with each other.” Yuri explained as she tapped her chin in thought, recalling what the older Japanese member told them (via Chaeyeon their in-house interpreter while everyone is studying Korean and Japanese). 

Yuri jabbed at Minjoo’s ribs playfully. “It reminded me of when we were teaching Nako how to be friends of the same age.” 

Minjoo giggled at the fun time they had despite the extremely stressful and strenuous situation that surrounded them (they were preparing for their final stage after all), and agreed silently. 

After gathering a few snacks and refreshments in their arms (more so Minjoo than Yuri, Minjoo loved her snacks) they walked back to the waiting room, chatting about whatever came to mind. Yuri scanned the room for a spot where her and Minjoo could lounge and eat their food while waiting for their elders to finish preparing. 

She immediately spotted a pair of Japanese girls on the couch, one with her head nestled against a shoulder and sleeping away, while the other scrolled mindlessly on her phone. A grin turned on her lips, eyes sparking mischievously as if she caught her fellow same age friends in an embarrassing position. 

Yuri tiptoed over (Minjoo in tow, who is more concentrated on munching on her snack bar) and flopped on Nako's free side.

"Naa~ko, Naa~ko, Nakoooo~" 

She sang in delight, copying the same tune as an old commercial that Nako starred in when she was younger. Nako cried out silently, nearly dropping her phone on her lap at the sudden weight by her side. 

"Yuri!" She hissed, trying to balance herself and remain unmoving so the girl next to her wouldn't wake up. Yuri just grinned playfully, "Whatcha doing?" She asked.

"Nothing." Nako responded quickly, eyes darting to make sure Hitomi was still sound asleep. Yuri's brows waggled, and Nako half-heartedly shoved her away--gosh she was becoming like a small dog version of Yena. 

"Hii-chan’s sleeping?" 

Minjoo piped up as she sat on the arm of the couch, seeing as Hitomi was more or less taking up at least half the space while snoozing on Nako.

Nako nodded silently, returning her attention to her phone. 

Yuri quickly poked Nako's shoulder, "Isn't it more comfortable on your lap than your shoulder?" She asked and arched her brow again. She immediately noticed the faded flush on Nako's cheeks and grinned. 

"It-It's more embarrassing." Nako managed to muster, "Besides… Hii-chan kind of fell asleep like this."

"It's not embarrassing! We're friends, family, sisters!” She flopped onto Nako’s lap, unceremoniously throwing her legs over the side of the couch. “This is also the first step to help you and Hii-chan get over your uh… _Senbai-Koubai_ relationship.”

Nako laughed, "I think you mean _Senpai-Kouhai._ "

Yuri was still learning, one day she will be fluent like her Chaeyeon-unnie.

She snuggled herself in Nako's lap, "I can see why Hii-chan uses you as a pillow." She grinned at the darker flush on Nako's cheeks, who looked to their side, to a snacking Minjoo, for help. 

Minjoo just offered a snack bar with a shrug, making Yuri laugh from Nako’s lap. No wonder why her and Hyewon-unnie were close friends during Produce 48--sneaking out and stealing snacks together. 

“Is it really hard, using more casual language with Hii-chan?” Minjoo asked as Nako took the bar from her (reluctantly) and started to indulge herself.

Yuri didn’t miss how Nako’s eyes fluttered to the girl next to her, smiling a little. 

“Honestly, it’s not that hard for me. It’s been one of my characteristics since I was younger.” She explained slowly, gesturing a little. “Saku-chan always criticized me for talking down to my seniors.”

Hearing that, Yuri and Minjoo exchanged looks of surprise, the small and sweet Nako-chan had a wicked tongue?

Nako laughed, catching both of their surprised looks. “Hii-chan though… was always polite, even when we were younger.” She bit into the bar, chewing and swallowing before moving on, “Even though we’re the same age, I’ve been part of AKB48 longer than she has, so she talks to me politely because I’m her senior.” 

“Ah, sunbae and hoobae…” Yuri mumbled, “Understandable, we would be like that if we met any other groups.”

 _Any other groups_ , not members in the _same group_. 

Yuri’s eyes darted over to Minjoo, who had a similar look in her eyes. They exchanged a nod.

“Well, Nako. I guess it’s time that we teach Hii-chan how to talk less formally with you and the rest of us.” 

Yuri said, still lying on Nako’s lap. Nako raised a brow in response, tilting her head a little. “I don’t mind, but do you have a plan?” 

“We could try the same thing that we did with you.” Minjoo suggested, tossing the wrapper away and joining the three of them fully on the couch now. It was just a short explanation and roleplay scenario they did with the Japanese member to explain same-aged friends. How hard would it be to do the same thing for their other member?

A smile curled on Yuri’s lips with a certain glint in her eyes as she stared at Minjoo and Nako. 

“Oh, I have something that’s similar to that.” 

As if on cue, the older members of IZ*ONE stepped into the room, calling for the younger ones to get their butts off the couch and go see the stylist to get ready. Yuri’s eyes fell upon two certain members, one of them with her iconic laugh and the other falling for her contagious laughter, and smiled. 

* * *

Minjoo wasn’t sure how she let Yuri convince her to go along with her plan. 

“I think that looks good on you.”

She was on the wooden floor of the dorm, watching Yuri twirl around in Chaeyeon’s cream coloured sweater. Chaeyeon was standing at the doorway, watching her with an amused eye. “Let me adjust your hair.” She walked forward, meeting Yuri halfway to pull back her bangs with some clips she had. They were trying to “Chaeyeon-ified” Yuri. 

“Thanks Unnie, this looks great. I might actually steal this sweater from you.” 

Yuri teased as she played with the sleeves of the cream sweater. Chaeyeon raised a brow, playfully messing with her hair while being mindful of the clips she just put in. “Do you want the leopard pants too?” 

“No please! Not those.” Yuri cutely whined as Chaeyeon squished her cheeks for insulting her choice of pajamas.

Minjoo smiled, stifling the laugh behind her hand. 

A soft knock came from behind the two; Sakura walked in holding a knitted sweater. “Um. You said you wanted this?” 

Yuri pointed at Minjoo. “Just toss it to Minjoo, Kkura-unnie.” 

Listening to Yuri _literally_ , Sakura tossed the sweater and Minjoo was met with a face full of red fabric. She gently pried it off of her, glaring at Yuri who shrugged nonchalantly. “Thank you, Sakura-unnie. I hope you’re okay with me wearing it.” 

“Wearing? Oh, sure. Chaeyeon said you wanted these too.” Sakura pulled out a pair of thick rimmed glasses and stepped over to hand them to Minjoo. 

Minjoo blanched as she stared at the horrifying pair of glasses. Hyewon was adamant and vocal about her hate for Sakura's glasses but it was the first time she's seen them. She thanked her quietly and held them up to check. The frames were dark, thick, and in a rectangular shape (which wasn’t very “in-style” in Korea). She raised a brow as she turned the glasses over in her hands.

… They weren't that bad….

“Minjoo-ya you look like you’re holding a bug.” Chaeyeon’s laugh in the back snapped her out of her thoughts as she lowered the glasses and smiled thankfully up at Sakura. 

“Thank you Sakura-unnie.”

Sakura smiled back at Minjoo before glancing over at Chaeyeon. Chaeyeon nodded to her and grabbed her phone from her desk. She waved to Minjoo and Yuri as she approached Sakura at the door.

“Alright, we’re off you two. Have fun with whatever you’re doing with Hii-chan and Nako.”

Sakura gave a quiet farewell as well and they left the dorm shortly after. 

Minjoo sighed as she stood up, throwing the sweater over her head.

“How did I let you convince me to be your Sakura to your Chaeyeon?” She grumbled, staring at herself in the standing mirror while trying to adjust her hair. Yuri fell behind her, ran a hand through Minjoo’s long hair and combed it backwards while trying to hide it within Sakura’s sweater she had on. She could see laughter dancing in her eyes that stared back at her in the reflection. 

“Because you have a pretty face like Kkura-unnie.” 

Minjoo blinked at the sudden compliment and she flushed, letting out a small ‘ _yah_ ’ as she pushed Yuri away from her.

Yuri laughed boisterously, almost as if she was trying to imitate Chaeyeon’s laugh. She cleared her throat after, “Anyways, let’s go greet Nako and Hii-chan. Hii-chan is probably confused on why we locked ourselves up in hers and Chaeyeon-unnie’s room.” She wrapped an arm around Minjoo’s waist, imitating the many times that Chaeyeon did this to Sakura. 

Minjoo rolled her eyes but went along with Yuri. She was getting way too much into this role playing thing.  
  


…  
  


The look on Hitomi’s face when they gathered in the living room was of absolute pure confusion. 

“Hii-chan, we’re here to help you today.” 

Yuri started, sitting on the ground with Minjoo beside her while the two Japanese members sat on the couches in front of them. Hitomi was utterly confused still and Nako wore a grin on her face, amused at how far Yuri and Minjoo went for this ‘plan’ that Yuri brought up before.

The plan Yuri thought of was to help ease Hitomi into being comfortable with using less formalities by showing her two different people being comfortable with each other. Hitomi was already used to her and Minjoo picking on each other, so just showing her them wouldn't have the same effect. 

But if her and Minjoo were suddenly Chaeyeon and Sakura, the impact would be better. 

It was _perfect_. 

"Right, _Saku-chan_?" Yuri turned to Minjoo and gave her a goofy smile. 

Minjoo, behind the glasses (that she could barely see out of), blinked. Yuri slapped her leg, telling her to go with it. Minjoo quickly amended, "Y-Yes Chaeyeon….? Chaeyeon???.... Jjaeyeon???" 

Nako burst out laughing and Hitomi stared at the two of them, still blinking continuously.

“What’s… going on?” Hitomi finally asked, looking back and forth between the three of them. 

“We’re… um…” Yuri faltered, glancing at Minjoo for help. She thought that it was obvious they were trying to be helpful but maybe for poor Hitomi, it was doing the opposite. Minjoo looked at her with an equally helpless look. 

_“They’re trying to ease you into using less formal language.”_ Nako said something in Japanese that Yuri couldn’t quite understand fully, but she could tell by whatever Nako said, Hitomi visibly relaxed, confusion not predominantly written on her face. _“They’re roleplaying Saku-chan and Chaeyeon-unnie to show you that it’s okay to use casual speech amongst us.”_

Whatever last bit Nako supplied Hitomi with, caused some shock and realization as Hitomi turned to her and Minjoo, waving her hands frantically. 

“No! It’s um…. Okay. I’m okay. You don’t need to do… this for me.” Hitomi quickly said, her hands gesturing towards all of them in the room. “I’m sorry...”

Yuri shook her head, a clip coming undone as a lock of hair bounced back on her forehead. “Hitomi, _it’s okay! We um, we want you to have fun!_ ” She tried to think of every Japanese word she learned over the last few months and put it together in a coherent sentence. “ _Because we’re same age friends!_ ”

“... Oh…” Hitomi lowered her head a little, suddenly shy and embarrassed.

Minjoo peeled the glasses off her face, blinking a couple of times, before standing up and went over to Hitomi and knelt down in front of her. “Hitomi.” Her voice was hushed, gently brushing back a lock of hair. “You don’t need to be shy. We want to help you because you’re our friend.”

Yuri watched Minjoo silently as she comforted Hitomi. She thought about how they were approaching this situation and scratched her head sheepishly. Everyone didn’t change overnight and everyone was different. Her and Minjoo could get along well right away because they both understood the concept, Nako joined them after short coaxing and she adapted easily to them, and Hitomi, she was trying, she was making an effort to be with them.

And they couldn’t force her to adjust quickly. 

She took to her feet and padded over, taking a seat next to Nako after Minjoo sat on Hitomi’s other side. She threw an arm around Nako, her hand landing on Hitomi’s shoulder.

“One step at a time.” Yuri said with a smile. “Take it at your own pace.”

Hitomi lifted her head up, and shared a small grateful smile. Yuri wanted to pinch her cheeks but knew Hitomi would get mad if she did.

“Thank you, Y...Yuri…? O-Or am I supposed to call you… Chaeyeon-unnie?”

Nako and Minjoo fell back onto the couch, laughing while a small grin lifted on Yuri’s lips. 

_Well, that was progress at least, right?_


	2. kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri wanted to be affectionate with the other 01z and she knew one way to do so.

Yuri was never fond of kisses at first. 

In a cut throat competition like the Produce series, there was no time for affection or warmth—there were constant deadlines to meet and training to be done so you could survive. It's why she spent her time away from others (and the fact she was shy) so she wouldn't idle or waste time. 

However, Choi Yena changed that when she approached her randomly, complaining about how she had no idea how to do the Nekkoya routine. After their first encounter, Yena never left her alone, even when the both of them fell in the reevaluation, they promised to climb back up together. Grades were just a letter that couldn't hinder their efforts. 

Yena slowly tore down her guard, one touch or kiss at a time.

She hated it at first—Yena was just so spontaneous and did it whenever she felt like it. The first time Yena's lips touched her head, she ran away, hoping to find Gyuri and hide away until she wasn't red anymore and the small patch that Yena's lips went over stopped burning. Yena was persistent though, and by the fourth time, after Gyuri was tired of having to always hide Yuri, she reluctantly accepted it. 

And soon, she started to like it. 

And by the end of Produce 48, when both her and Yena made it into IZ*ONE, Yuri embraced it. 

* * *

It was a lazy day, which was rare for a burning hot girl group like them. Yuri and Yena were casually bantering in Yuri's shared Dorm room, sharing pictures and videos from their previous fanmeets that were all over the internet. 

A particular one had Yena laughing and Yuri pouting. It was a compilation of Yuri's close but not so close kisses being blocked by Hyewon. 

"Kwangbae is always so affectionate with Kkura-unnie and Eunbi-unnie and everyone else but won't accept me!" 

Yena ruffled Yuri's head as she complained loudly. "I know Hyewon and she prefers to initiate, it frightens her when someone younger tries to go on her unless it's Yujin."

Yuri pouted again, whining cutely. It wasn't fair, what did the giant puppy have that she didn't? As if Yena could read her mind, she lowered her phone and slung an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "You should try some of the other members though! They're just as fun to be affectionate with."

"They'll reject me like how Kwangbae does…"

The grip around her shoulders tightened and Yena's other hand ghost over her side, tickling the sensitive area with a laugh. "You just have to be persistent!" Yuri tried to push her away but fell for Yena's raucous laughter. "It worked for me didn't it?" 

It took Yena four tries but Yuri didn't have the heart to tell her in that moment. 

"Here, watch and learn."

Yena boasted as she stood up from Yuri's side and poked her head out of the room, seeking her target. Curiously, Yuri followed her gaze when it settled on two of her dorm mates who were in their own little world on the couch. 

"Kkura-unnie!" 

Yena called out and skipped out of the room. Yuri poked her head out to watch the disaster happen. 

And it did when Yena suddenly launched herself onto Sakura, who was playing her Nintendo Switch while lying on Chaeyeon's lap (who was reading a magazine silently). There was a mix of laughter, screams, and curses in both Korean and Japanese as the two wrestled on half of the couch. Chaeyeon had safely retreated to the other half, resuming her reading as if she was never bothered in the first place. 

Yuri watched in amusement as Yena desperately fought Sakura. She understood what Yena meant by persistence and thought that it would work well with some members who weren't nearly as violent as Sakura. 

And once the door to their dorm opened, and Hitomi and Nako walked in with their groceries they bought from the supermarket, a thought came to Yuri and she knew a group of people she would love to be affectionate with. 

* * *

_A kiss for your hard work_

Kissing Nako was surprisingly easy and not very dramatic—it was as if this was normal for Nako. 

It happened during vocal practice. Being the main vocalist of IZ*ONE had its perks—Yuri concentrated on keeping her ability to sing for long periods of time and how to care for her voice while some of the others had to do extensive vocal training to bring them up to a suitable level.

Nako always had a pretty voice, Yuri thought. She was impressed by her ability to hit the high note in Gfriend's Love Whisper and how she could keep a steady voice while dancing. It wasn't normal—especially for a trainee who didn't have much training—to be able to do what Yabuki Nako did. 

After debuting, Nako's vocalist role shifted around but she still took it very seriously, even with the small amount of parts she had. Once everyone had left the room, Yuri was going to turn on some songs to sing, when she noticed that Nako hadn't moved from the corner. 

Curious, she sneaked over, towering over Nako's crouched form. Nako was busy with the melody of their new song in her ears and the potential lyrics in her hand to even notice her. Yuri noticed how much detail was written on the lyric sheet. She could recognize some characters but didn't know what they meant. 

Not wanting to bother Nako during her practice, she waited to see if she would notice her. 

… 

Nako remained unmoving, only slips of words from parts of the song came from her lips. 

Yuri pouted, and slowly lowered herself to rest against Nako's back, propping her chin on the Japanese's shoulder. Nako's eyes flickered slightly, glancing at her, but then concentrated back on her paper. 

… 

Yuri's hands slipped around Nako's waist. 

Nako's hands lowered to rest against Yuri's, but her eyes still remained diligently on the paper. 

Yuri remained still, watching Nako. Nako was the cutest member in their group, there was no dispute over it, but Yuri thought she looked especially cute with a furrowed brow and a highly concentrated look.

She loved how hard Nako worked, no matter how many parts she had.

… 

Yuri turned her head towards Nako's cheek and leaned forward, taking a quick peck at her cheek. 

It was something like a good job and good luck kiss. She was proud of herself for thinking about that.

The papers slipped out of Nako’s grasp as the Japanese member froze in surprise and slowly turned her head to her. 

Yuri smiled almost _too_ innocently and raised her eyebrows, as if she was challenging her.

Nako narrowed her eyes and moved forward, her lips landed on Yuri's cheeks in an equally quick peck. She turned back to her paper and went back to practicing. 

Yuri blinked once.

Yuri blinked twice.

Her tight grasp around Nako loosened as the small warmth against her cheek somehow _burned_ , serving as a reminder of Nako’s action just a short while ago. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

Nako raised a brow at her, and grinned. She wiggled her way out of Yuri’s grasp and playfully poked her nose.

“I’ll see you back in the dorm, Yuri.” 

Nako left without another word, leaving Yuri in the practice room by herself. 

Yuri could only watch the Japanese member leave with a look between shock and confusion on her face.

_Did Yabuki Nako really kiss her back?_

* * *

_A kiss for your thankfulness_

Kissing Minjoo was unexpected. 

Minjoo was always an easy person to be around. As clumsy as she was about a third of the time, Minjoo was always kind and caring. She would make time to listen to your concerns no matter what, never showing any judgement or saying anything bad to you. She was just so comfortable to be with. Yuri thought that if they lived in the same dorm together, her and Minjoo would be that one pair that was _always_ together.

But dorms be damned, they can be together outside of it.

…

Yuri at the airports was always a different person in appearance compared to all their other events, meetings, and outings. Yuri loved the costumes and outfits they wore on stage and in studios, but a comfortable pair of slacks and a sweater were so easy to wear, especially for someone who woke up with only five minutes to spare before Eunbi would burst into their dorm and drag them out to the van.

She may have been exaggerating about the five minute thing, but she just loved her sleep.

Yuri made sure to cover her face with a black mask, using it as protection for any potential viruses that happened to be around and to hide her hideous morning face. As much as the others said she was fine, Yuri didn’t want to be captured in this state (although the photos turned out well regardless). To hide her bed hair _(remember the five minutes)_ , she sported a cap that she stole from one of the other members.

They all stood in a mixed line on the slow conveyor belt. Yuri knew most of the members were still tired as they were all hidden behind masks. That didn’t stop the masternims from snapping photos, the clicks and snaps of the cameras easily heard around them. 

She paid no attention to them, staring at the pink hair that was a breath away. 

Ever since her kiss with Nako in the training room, Yuri was determined to show that she could be better and not falter like she did before. And well, it happened that Minjoo, another 01 that she wanted to be affectionate with, was just before her. 

"Yuri." 

Her name being called snapped her out of her thoughts. She tilted her head up slightly so she could make contact with Minjoo behind her pulled down cap. "Hm?"

"You've been staring at me the entire time."

Minjoo's giggle caught her ears as she brought a finger up, poking at the top of her head playfully. By instinct, Yuri pulled away, her hand snapping upward and catching Minjoo’s small wrist in her hand.

"Are you okay? Is it suffocating with all that on?" 

The tone was playful with hints of motherly concern. While Minjoo wasn't quite parent status like Eunbi or Chaeyeon, she still always looked out for all of them. Yuri shook her head. "I'm fine." 

"Let me take a look." 

Minjoo easily slipped her hand out of Yuri’s hands and turned fully to her. She leaned forward, her masked face just inches apart from her own.

Yuri felt warm, her cheeks heating up as she could see all of Minjoo in front of her. Minjoo was close, Minjoo was so, _so close_. 

Minjoo's finger gently pinched the front of her mask, and pulled it down to her chin. 

Yuri slightly flinched as the warmth that protected her face was gone and the air-conditioned air of the airport greeted her. She noticed the concentrated look in Minjoo's eyes, observing the small details of her face. 

It was something she saw in her mother, in someone who cared so much about you and your wellbeing.

Something inside of Yuri roared and her mind told her to thank her.

And so she did.

Yuri leaned forward, ignoring the surprise expression that Minjoo’s eyes showed when she suddenly invaded her space. She tilted her head a little to the side to avoid hitting Minjoo with the lid of her cap. Her lips grazed Minjoo’s masked nose before she pressed forward and they made contact with the (slightly) covered skin.

Minjoo blinked, a confused noise escaping her lips.

A small sheepish smile curled on her lips and hastily, Yuri pulled her mask back up and tugged her hat down. She prayed that none of the masternims took photos of that or else her managers would be chasing her all around Seoul. 

"Thanks Min. I'm doing fine because of you." 

As quick as her kiss to Minjoo was, she escaped, passing Minjoo and her manager in front of her who just stared at her in confusion.

* * *

_A kiss for your surprise_

Kissing Hitomi was difficult. 

Hitomi and Yuri got along quite well despite not speaking to each other during Produce 48. When they started living together, there were often times where the two of them sat next to each other silently, Yuri playing with her phone while Hitomi read one of her many books. After a while, Hitomi would get tired and bid her good night.

Yuri thought one of these nights she would be able to hone in on Hitomi, get a quick kiss (a good night kiss was simple enough, right?) and flee before any of their other dorm mates or even Hitomi herself would ask. But Hitomi wasn’t non-reactionary like Nako or played along like Minjoo, she always _fought_ in a way with Yuri.

The two of them always argued, not to the extent where it became detrimental to the group, but in the playful way that close (same-aged) friends would. Even though she was oughted out for picking on Hitomi during a variety show, they still continued to bicker even off-screen. That’s why it was hard because Yuri couldn’t help but make a smug remark to Hitomi, and Hitomi would either fight back with her own or just push a pillow in her face and leave for the night with a satisfied smile on her face.

There was one other option Yuri had but it may cause havoc among the fans if either of them were to post it (Yuri was too lazy to post it, so it would probably be Hitomi).

Hitomi often took photos of herself (who didn’t though) during their downtime and in between their schedules. If Yuri happened to be walking by, Hitomi would always call her over to take a photo with the two of them. Yuri loved it and always made her send the photo on KKT after. 

Yuri thought that she would kiss Hitomi during one of these photo sessions. It was fool proof--Hitomi couldn’t run or hide when she would close in on her because they were supposed to take a photo together. There was a bonus if Hitomi caught the moment on camera and Yuri would be able to cherish it forever (although she will be sure to etch it in her mind to never forget).

However, there was one problem, in the form of another member of their group.

_Kim Chaewon._

…

Yuri found Yena on a couch, eyes closed, seemingly taking a nap. She was chewing some gummies from a bag though, so maybe she wasn’t sleeping. It wasn’t surprising though, they had rehearsals and preparation before their concert, so everyone was exhausted from the endless practice and stress they had up to this moment. Yuri flopped next to her, grabbing the bag of gummies and plopping one in her mouth. This woke up Yena.

"Yena-unnie, I need your help.” 

Yena groggily rubbed her eyes, reaching over and grabbed a handful of gummies. “What’s this about…?”

“Remember how I told you before about my goal, with the other 01 liners.”

“Oh, your kissing conquest, yeah I remember.” 

At her straight forward (and somewhat _crude_ ) remark, Yuri blushed, shoving the bag of gummies back into her hands. “Y-You don’t need to say it like that!” She grumbled, taking a deep breath to compose herself. 

“Anyways, I need you to distract Chaewon-unnie for me.”

Chaewon was a thorn in Yuri’s side when it came to trying to get close to Hitomi. If Yuri wasn’t taking a photo with Hitomi, the other person would be Chaewon. And Chaewon took _forever_ with her photos especially if they were with Hitomi. Hitomi was Chaewon’s favourite _dongsaeng_ (with the exception of Nako, but no one dared to say Nako was their favourite in front of Eunbi) after all, therefore she would try to monopolize her the most.

Yuri needed to get Chaewon away from Hitomi just for a second, and she believed Yena could do it. 

“Chaewon? Are you trying to kiss her too? I didn’t know you had it in you, JoYul-”

Yuri choked on the gummy she was chewing and shoved Yena. “NO! No way! Do you want me to get beat up?! The fans don’t call Chaewon-unnie a cheetah for nothing!”

The shove was nothing for Yena, who started laughing at Yuri’s comment. Yuri pouted even when Yena started ruffling her hair and teasing her gently. 

“Psh, Chaewon’s a baby cheetah, she can’t hurt a fly, much less you. Anyways, I’ll keep her busy so you can do what you need to do.” She patted Yuri’s shoulder and stood up as their manager called her over. “Good luck on your mission, JoYul~” 

Yena’s bag of gummies was tossed on her lap as Yena walked away. Yuri sighed, taking a gummy and tossing it into her mouth. Hopefully Yena wouldn’t get beaten up like she did when she tried to kiss Sakura. 

…

Yuri played with the curler in her bangs as she walked out of the stylist room. It would still be a few hours until she could take it out, so there was no point in trying to do anything extraneous, especially before their concert. She peered into the dressing room, seeing if there was anyone (or snacks) there. 

Yuri’s eyes lit up when she noticed there was _only_ a certain _someone_ in the room.

This was her chance.

She was about to step into the dressing room and jump on her (last) victim, but paused at the sound of heels clicking--someone was on their way. Her eyes moved away and glared at the oncoming person.

She dropped the glare when she spotted the familiar redhead approaching the dressing room.

_Oh no._

Chaewon just turned the corner, fiddling with her phone. She also looked like she finished with the stylist and was ready for a break… And was making a beeline for the dressing room. Yuri started to panic at that thought, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get to Hitomi if Chaewon was around. She started to cycle through many excuses to try and deter Chaewon away. 

_Sorry it's under construction._

No, why would their dressing room be under construction during this time? 

_No ones there._

Poor excuse that would welcome her inside. 

_Hitomi is with Nako and Minjoo._

She slapped herself, Chaewon would kill her if she caught her lying. 

"Oi, Chaewon-ah!!!" 

Yuri blinked, nearly screaming when someone bolted right by her from the other side of the hall. They threw an arm around Chaewon's shoulder, nearly taking the two crashing down on the ground. 

"Yena-unnie?! What's wrong? Why did you nearly knock me over?"

"Let's go grab a snack and take some pictures together."

"Huh?! Why are we…" 

Yena forced Chaewon away, waving and talking over her protests with random nonsense. 

Yuri was speechless, so many questions flooding her mind. _What just happened? Where did Yena even come from? Is Chaewon going to suspect anything after that random encounter?_

A wink and a mouthing of _good luck_ snapped Yuri out of her thoughts and she grinned bashfully, cupping her mouth and whispered a (loud) silent _thank you, I love you Unnie!_

She giggled at the _you owe me_ as a response and stepped into the dressing room, her eyes only on Honda Hitomi. 

…

When Yuri stepped into the room silently, Hitomi didn’t even bat an eye to her. She seemed too focussed on fiddling with her phone, trying to focus on capturing the perfect angle for a selfie. A widened smile curled upwards, Hitomi was always cute when she was concentrating (same with Nako and Minjoo when Yuri thought back on their _kiss_.).

This was the perfect moment.

She slunk over, carefully propping her chin on the top of Hitomi’s (now) blonde hair, being cautious of the hair that was clipped backwards (the stylist would murder her if she found out that Yuri messed with Hitomi’s hair before their performance). She felt Hitomi jump beneath her, bumping gently against Yuri’s chin and she giggled in response.

Her arms snuck around tightly.

“ _What are you looking at?_ ”

Hitomi made a sound, almost dropping her phone in surprise. She was obviously confused because she didn’t notice Yuri stepping into the room. Yuri kept a playful smile on her face, poking Hitomi’s cheek. 

Hitomi narrowed her eyes. “What are _you_ looking at?” She snapped back, just as playful.

Yuri giggled before swooping around and flopping herself onto Hitomi’s lap. “Taking selfies?"

"Mm." Hitomi hummed gently, her attention drawn back to her phone. She doesn't react to Yuri sitting on her lap, Yuri did it so much before that she took it as a common occurrence. "I can't get the perfect angle."

Hitomi puffed out her cheeks which made Yuri grin, she was too cute when she was angry. It was why Yuri joked and picked on her so often. "I don't get how Kang-chan does it."

"I don't think anyone does." Yuri shrugged, agreeing that their foodie group member had a talent at taking the best selfies. "Let's try to take one together?" 

Yuri had to almost pause at the suggestion, making sure not to go overboard with her emotions that Hitomi would get suspicious. Hitomi had no idea what was going to happen. 

"Okay."

Hitomi stretched her hand out aiming to get the two of them in frame. The hand fumbled a little but Yuri brought her hand up and clasped Hitomi's to stabilize it. She squeezed it gently to reassure her _it's okay._

"Any pose?" 

"Any pose."

Yuri reassured as she dropped her hand to her lap. Her smile widened, knowing _exactly_ what she was going to do. 

"1...2...3—"

"Hey Hii-chan."

Just as Hitomi's thumb pressed down and Hitomi tilted her head a little, Yuri snapped her head into her direction and puckered her lips together, pressing it against Hitomi's now exposed cheek. 

The snap of the photo being taken and Hitomi's confusion filled the room shortly after.

Yuri had to stop herself from laughing hysterically at the preview picture shown on Hitomi's phone.

"Y-Yuri?! W-what was...that?" 

An innocent smile to an equally innocent question. 

"Just a kiss. I wanted to surprise you." 

A light flush stained Hitomi's cheeks, her eyes briefly glancing at her phone where the camera was still pointed at them. Her brow furrowed a little in concentration, before she mumbled, "Okay, let's take another one then."

Yuri nodded and stared at the camera, puckering out her lips playfully. She put on a bit of a rejected expression, wanting to pretend Hitomi didn't take her kiss well. 

What she didn't expect was Hitomi to lean in so close, her lips just hovering over her cheek.

…

One tilt, Hitomi's lips would be against her skin. 

One push, Hitomi's lips would be against her skin. 

One pull, Hitomi's lips would be against her skin. 

The shutter sound from the camera echoed into the room and a small groan came from Hitomi's lips as she pulled away. Her phone was placed on the dresser and her hands came up to cover her face, trying to hide the maddening red face.

Yuri laughed, wrapping her arms around Hitomi and pressed a gentle kiss against the crown of her head. 

"There, there, I know it's embarrassing for you."

Hitomi let out a quiet whine. Yuri knew she was determined to pay her back, but knew Hitomi wasn't like her or Yena (or Nako apparently) who could kiss freely. She consoled her and told her it's okay. 

"Oh, and you have to send those pictures to me on KKT later."

* * *

_A kiss for you._

It was a similar scenario to where it all began. 

Yuri and Yena were hanging out but this time in Yena’s dorm, playing on their respective Nintendo Switches.

Yuri hummed the background music of _Pokemon_ as her character ran around, looking for pokemon to catch in the grass. She heard Yena shift from the top bunk and then suddenly said girl’s head popped into her line of vision--she hung off the side from the bunk above.  
  
“So I heard you finished your conquest.” 

Yuri raised a brow curiously. The only person she told about her “conquest” (as Yena kept putting it) was _her_. She hummed an affirmation, concentrating on her game. 

“Wanna spill the reason you started it in the first place?”

Maybe Yena just assumed she finished since she knew that Hitomi was the last person she had to kiss. She hummed again, saving her progress in her game and shifted in the bed so Yena could join her (even though it was Yena’s bed in the first place, so she could kick her out if she wanted to). Yena took the open invitation graciously and swung off of Chaewon’s bed to join Yuri in hers.  
  
“Do you need a reason to kiss someone you care about dearly?” Yuri asked as she faced Yena. 

Yena shrugged, “Not really. I just didn’t pin you as the type to chase after the other 01 liners, especially Hii-chan and Nako, with kisses.” Yuri’s eyes narrowed and Yena continued with a small grin. “They’re not the types you shower with kisses. Nako maybe, but if you try to get close to Hii-chan, she’ll probably run away faster than Hyewon eating a plate of gopchang.” 

“And Minjoo?” 

Yena went silent, almost snickering. “Minjoo is like your bro and personally, I don’t go kissing bros.” She shuddered a little, imagining trying to zero in on Hyewon, but automatically pushed that thought away. “But Minjoo is a sweet kid, so I wouldn’t put it past you.”

Yena’s question actually got her mind reeling though--why did she suddenly want to shower the other 01 liners with affection? 

One who worked hard on trying to keep up with the rest of them.

One who showered everyone in motherly love and care despite being picked on. 

And one who was just too cute to pass up and deserved as much love as anyone else. 

“I… just wanted to show how much I cared about them.” 

Her voice was meek and she lowered herself in Yena’s blankets, suddenly embarrassed at what she was admitting. “I love everyone in IZONE: you, Eunbi-unnie, Kkura-unnie, Hyewon-unnie, Chaeyeon-unnie, Chaewon-unnie, Yujin, Wonyoung… but the 01 line, we’re… we’re like a unit you know. I just feel comfortable being with them and I want them to know that.”

She covered her face and closed her eyes tight. Her cheeks were aflamed and she couldn’t help but giggle. She blinked at a soft touch at the top of her head and peaked out. 

Yena grinned at her, “... I think I influenced you too much, JolYul but I get it. Basically you love ‘em a lot and want to show them through your own way of affection.” She paused for a moment and threw a glance over her shoulder. The grin on Yena’s face widened before she returned her gaze.

  
“Just remember one thing, JolYul. There’s reciprocation for your actions as well.

The bed creaked and the mattress slightly jumped as Yena climbed off of it. Yuri slowly lowered the sheets, confused on why Yena was suddenly leaving. The older member stretched, “Well. I think that’s what they wanted to hear.” 

_They?_

Yuri glanced around and jumped when she heard the door creak. They left the door open by a tiny crack the entire time in case Eunbi was going to yell at them from the living room, but she didn’t anticipate that someone was actually there. Three familiar heads poked in and Yuri quickly buried herself in Yena’s blankets once more. She heard Yena’s footsteps fade away with some muffled greetings before more footsteps piled in and the door shut with a soft click.

The bed sunk rather quickly and Yuri hesitantly lowered the blanket.

“Y… You heard everything?” 

Minjoo sheepishly smiled, “Sorry. We kind of asked Yena-unnie because we figured she would know about it.”

Yuri sighed, now everything that Yena was asking about started to come together. She sat up fully, shifting around so the other girls had more room to sit in the bed. “Sorry, I suddenly sprung up on all of you…” 

“Don’t apologize, Yuri.” The bed shifted and Nako sat at her side, playfully nudging her with her elbow. “We were concerned that something was wrong.” 

Another shift and Yuri was squished in between the two Japanese members as Hitomi climbed onto her other side. “We wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

“And we wanted to give something back.” 

Minjoo filled in last, as she crawled forward, sitting in front of Yuri. Her eyes flickered to the side, her cheeks a tinge of red. “Yuri, we um, as the oldest in the 01 line, I want to say on behalf of all of us that we…” 

…

Yuri blinked, confused at the sudden silence. She watched in amusement as Minjoo’s lips moved, but no words actually came out. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the disappointed (yet entertained) look from Nako and Hitomi. 

“Minjoo did it again.” They both said, one brimming in laughter while the other just shook her head. 

“Why don’t we just show her, it’s easier that way.” 

Nako suggested, winking at Yuri. Yuri was reminded of when she latched onto Nako and her cheeks started to warm once again. She averted her gaze to Minjoo and Hitomi, both of them more bashful than usual but there was no sign of protest on their face.

“Yuri, close your eyes.”

She knew she couldn’t get out of this one, not after being trapped in Yena’s bed. She slowly shut her eyes, relaxing as she could feel their presence surround her. There were three presses against her face, brief and quick.

She felt _everything_ that they wanted to convey, that they wanted to say in this simple action. 

Yuri opened her eyes when she felt them pull away, a small smile lifted on her face as she stared at the other three members. 

“Thank you. I… I love you all too.” 

She threw her arms around Nako and Hitomi and flopped backwards, dragging them down onto the bed with her with a laugh. Nako laughed along with Yuri while Hitomi squeaked in surprise. Minjoo joined them shortly after, grumbling about how she had to always do everything on her own. 

This was something Yuri would cherish for the rest of her life. 

And there would be plenty more in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ welcome to a new project that i've finally been able to present. 
> 
> if you've followed my previous works and read through my long author's notes (because i don't shut up honestly lol), you'll know i'm pretty much 01 line trash. i honestly love them so much and always want to write content surrounding the lovely unit of four. and well, here we are, almost one whole year (i started this concept last summer) with the first two pieces.
> 
> im happy with how they turned out because you can imagine over such a long period of time, things change, things are written at different periods of time, and you sit and wonder why did you write something like this before. i wanted to present two pieces because the first piece is somewhat like an introductory while the second piece is an actual one. 
> 
> that, and it was published on may 7th, which is a bit of a special day if you follow 01z (or well iz*one content in general whoops) :) 
> 
> i have no real set time i'll update this, so i hope you do enjoy it when an update does happen! 
> 
> as always, thank you for all your kind words and kudos, it brightens my day when i see people enjoy my work. please have a good weekend and stay safe.
> 
> until next time!


	3. spam sandwiches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minjoo had one task for the day: eat the half loaf of bread or get rid of it discreetly before the day was over. She found herself in the other dorm after nearly setting her own on fire because of Yuri.
> 
> (And of course, Yuri didn't blame herself for it but blamed Minjoo's clumsiness.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is more minjoo/yuri centric, but nako and hitomi are around (more so the former).

Awakening to the sound of silence completely surprised Minjoo.

Despite moving to a new dorm with new sleeping arrangements including new roommates (or the lack of one in her and Yujin’s case), the exact same chaos always erupted in their dorm. It was worst now that the chaotic loud troublemaker line had the upper hand in the dorm because Chaewon was swayed to their side after only two days of being Yena’s roommate.  
  
  
_"Let's do the entire dance break of HwanSan (SSS) on the hoverboard."_

 _"Unnie I don't know if this is a good idea_ — _"_

_"I already did Fiesta's dance part, you saw how good I was, Chaewon-ah!"_

_"Okay fair."  
  
  
_ _Minjoo was impressed by the stability of Yena's jumps until everyone present to watch the new roommates break out into their newest single's dance break heard a **crash** and attention was drawn to the ceramic pieces of a flowerpot and the contents of a young growing flower and the rest of its contents spilled all over the ground. The flower belonged to their leader who was caring for it as a stress reliever to keep her from going insane in their dorm. And now it was shattered, and its remains was scattered on the floor. No one breathed for at least a minute, and when the impending doom was realized, frantic screams and cries of help erupted._

_Emergency phone calls and desperate cries for help for the other parent duo was made while the flower and flowerpot were cleaned up.  
  
_

_"You guys did **what?** "_

_"Chaeyeon-unnie, please help us! Do you know how to resuscitate plants?"_

_  
They dragged Chaeyeon (and Sakura since “Dad” had to come too) to the “emergency room” where they set all the pieces they cleaned up and stuck the flower in a glass because they lacked a proper vase in their dorm. Chaeyeon could only stare in disbelief and confusion at what the tenants of the other dorm wanted from her._

_Sakura on the other hand just laughed and did what all “Dad” figures did best—stay out of sight from the angry wrath of Mom (which was filled by Eunbi and Chaeyeon).  
  
  
_It was never a quiet moment in their dorm, except until now when she stared at the clock by her bed. It was well into the afternoon and slowly, she sat up, stretching her exhausted limbs. There was something nice about being able to sleep for more than four hours and not having the alarm blaring at 5 AM, telling her that it was going to be another long day. She didn’t mind those days of course but it was exhausting. Sometimes you just wanted to sleep to whatever time and eat whatever you wanted without any second thoughts about photoshoots, live performances, or variety show shootings.

Even after getting up and leaving her room, Minjoo still could not find any form of life in her dorm. Everyone’s rooms were opened but no one was there—they must have all went out for the day. Her stomach rumbled, requesting for breakfast even though it was way past that time.

She prepared the coffee machine, listening to the whirls and beeps as the machine prepared her favourite Americano. A note caught her eye, along with bagged slices of bread that she recognized from one of their favourite bakeries.

_"To the residents of IZ*DORM 1_

_I, greatest and most humble leader, Kwon Eunbi has bestowed upon the kingdom the highly requested loaf of bread that you have all so desired all week long. Now, such a prize does not come without a price. If this bread isn't finished by its expiration date, then let it be known that the kingdom will not stand the wrath of Queen Eunbi. Remember that simply **throwing away** the bread is a waste and will not be tolerated. _

_You have all been warned._

_Do not forget the sin that you have caused when River Rain's death fell upon the kingdom."  
  
_

Minjoo had to do a double take—even spinning the note around three times and pinching herself in various spots to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. After the fifth pinch, she realized it wasn’t a lie and that she wasn’t imagining things. She knew Eunbi loved to get into the spirit of their promotions and all (assuming this specific style was used because their theme revolved around fantasy and fairy tales), but this was… _dramatic_ and this was coming from _her_. She flipped the note over, more writing scribbled in tiny font on the back that was messier than Eunbi’s handwriting.  
  


_"Minjoo-ya, please finish the bread by today. Or at least get rid of it in a way so demon Kwon can't find its remains._

_I love you. Fighting!_ 🐥"  
  


The messy handwriting and the duck drawn at the bottom automatically told her who left the note. She stared at the bag full of bread, there was _at least_ half a loaf left… She sighed wearily, normally she didn’t eat bread because of her diet but… well, luckily promotions were finished…

* * *

The bread sizzled upon the pan as Minjoo hummed one of their songs to herself. She wasn't much of a cook if she had to be honest, especially with western food. When they had their kimchi fried rice lessons, all of them clowned her about her _artistic_ approach to the dish… Heck, even before that, she was on the borderline of being disowned for her _old fashion_ way of making ramyun.

Bread was a simple ingredient and could be enjoyed in many ways. Minjoo looked up recipes on YouTube but because their dorm lacked ingredients (everyone favoured ordering food as opposed to cooking), most of the recipes were difficult to pull off. In the end, she stuck to the basics—lightly buttered toasted bread. Hitomi would be proud of her decision.

(She ignored the small Hitomi-like voice in her head that was going on about how bagels are better.)

The soft melody of their doorbell rang over the sizzling pan and her humming that halted all her movements in surprise. She placed her spatula to the side and went over to the door with a perplex expression. All the other members were out, and she didn’t order anything (because she was tasked to finish this bread before they would all actually die) …

She opened the door slowly, peering through the crack to hide her obvious bedhead look. “… Hello?”

Her eyes came in contact with familiar red hair which was neatly tucked into a black cap and a black hoodie. She blinked in surprise, the nickname falling off her lips easily, “Joguri?”

"Minjoo, hello! Um..."

Minjoo glanced from top to bottom, despite the summer heat, Yuri was in a comfortable hoodie and matched with a pair of stylish denim shorts. It was easy to see the small nicks and light bruises from their continuous promotions the past three weeks that covered her legs. She seemed like she was ready to go out for the day…

But Jo Yuri _never_ left her dorm, unless… 

"Are you… going back to Busan?"

It was the only logical conclusion she could make.

Yuri recoiled back, staring up at her and shook her head. "No! No not today. Not right now at least." She quickly affirmed, a small frown tugging at her lips. "Why Busan so suddenly? Don't tell me you're going to ask me to go again—"

"I _wasn't_!" Minjoo protested almost immediately, flushing slightly. "It's just... you never leave your dorm. You do online shopping most of the time, you order takeout with Kkura-unnie and Wonyoungie, if you're not composing in the studio, you're composing in your room after kicking Nako out, and if you're not doing any of those you're sleeping—"

"Okay, _'kay_ , I get it!" Yuri snapped finally, huffing out an annoyed breath. "Yes, I don't leave my dorm often, thanks for reminding me Min. But today, is a special day." Her eyes flitted towards the side, redness creeping up her cheeks. She was shy, making Minjoo tilt her head curiously.

"Did you, eat yet?" The mumble was almost lost to Minjoo's ears. "Listen, I know we just had meat the other day but maybe today would be a good idea to go out and grab some to you know, celebrate your birthday, since you know, you always keep complaining every chance we get about the meat you still haven't gotten yet and..." The words flew above Minjoo's head that she almost thought Yuri was rapping at one point. Her rambles became incoherent and mixed with her suddenly dipping into her Busan dialect, it was hard to distinguish some words. She made a mental note that the cute Busan dialect wasn’t just become prominent when Yuri was angry.

"I... no?" Minjoo responded after Yuri managed to run out of breath, "Actually, speaking about food—"

Yuri's nose scrunched up and she peered over Minjoo’s shoulder, "Is that... something burning?"

_Oh s-_

A scream tore through Minjoo's lips and she bolted away from the door.

* * *

Minjoo hung her head in shame as she followed closely behind Yuri to her dorm.

"I can't believe you didn't turn off the burner when you opened the door. What would've happened if your dorm was engulfed in flames?"

While it seemed like a lecture, amusement was laced within Yuri’s tone and Minjoo groaned, unable to meet with the mirth dancing in her eyes. " _Don't._ We already have enough disasters that can't be counted on two hands in our dorm." She moaned. "Just please help me finish the rest of this bread and get rid of the evidence. It's already bad enough everyone in my dorm left this in my hands..."

Yuri hummed, the sound light and airy as the soft buzz and unlocking of the dorm came shortly after and she pushed open the door. She entered first and Minjoo followed. Unlike the uncharacteristic silence in her dorm, Yuri's dorm buzzed with life. Japanese chatter came from one room that Minjoo recognized as Sakura and Chaeyeon’s shared room and the sound of their youngest's laughter came from another (probably her own room). It seemed like everyone was minding their own business.

"Oh, Yuri, I thought you went out with Minjoo—" Nako stuck her head out from Sakura and Chaeyeon’s room, then paused, her nose crunching up. She reeled back, “Did you two set something on fire? What’s that _awful_ smell—"

Minjoo opened her mouth to protest but Yuri snickered quietly. "I'll tell you tonight."

The Japanese member waved her hand in front of her nose and shrugged, satisfied with the answer. She disappeared back into the room, rejoining with whatever Japanese conversation the other Japanese members were having. Minjoo shot Yuri a look and Yuri shrugged nonchalantly. "We share daily stories before falling asleep. I promise that Nako will be the only one to know."

" _Yuri_ —" She whined but Yuri pointed at the bag with the burnt toast in her hand. 

"It's payback for _that._ I can't believe you made me your accomplice."

They enter the kitchen, Yuri taking the burnt toast bag and disposing it somewhere where Minjoo assumed was their garbage. She laid out the rest of the slices of bread while waiting for Yuri, fiddling with her phone, and looked for recipes using bread again.

The endless supply of recipes and videos surprise her once more, there were so many ways that you can use bread to create different dishes—someone even has a recipe to create the famous Inkigayo sandwich.

(She saved the recipe under her watch later playlist, determine to recreate the delicious sandwiches when they had free time and she wasn’t so desperate to try and get rid of these slices of bread.)

Yuri leaned into her side; her chin propped up on her shoulder as she stared at her phone. Minjoo opened her mouth to ask if she had any ideas but stopped when Yuri’s arm lazily draped over her shoulders and her finger took control of her screen, scrolling up quickly. Her nose scrunched up in annoyance and she’s about to pick another fight with Yuri once more.

“How about this spam sandwich?” Yuri suggested, opening the video and scrolling to the description to read over the ingredients. “We have mostly everything, spam, egg, lettuce, cheese, _strawberry jam…_ ”

“Why do you have strawberry jam?” Minjoo asked, the girls normally didn’t eat it often because of how much sugar was in it.

A snicker came as Yuri undraped herself and went over to retrieve the rest of the ingredients. “Chaeyeon-unnie and Wonyoungie were trying to prove to J-line that strawberry jam works in savory sandwiches again. Let’s say that there was a lot of mixed results.” A brow arched but Yuri shrugged in response. “We like our strawberry jam in sandwiches and Kkura-unnie likes her weird plum stuff in rice.”

Remembering the disgusted look on Yuri’s face after she bit into the rice ball brought a small grin to Minjoo’s face. They were precious memories that they all shared. She quickly wiped the grin off her face before Yuri could retort and went over to help.

* * *

Once again, Minjoo found herself humming one of their songs while she carefully watched the bread toast in her pan. This time, because Yuri is with her, Yuri joined in with putting words to her humming and an unexpected duet session broke out.

(Or as Yuri put it, “Pretty” by Jo Yuri of IZ*ONE ft. Kim Minjoo, the background music.)

Yuri's voice stopped, a snort replacing ‘ _You're so pretty’_ , "Did you actually cut the spam like this?" She held up strips of Spam of variance of thickness that dangled off her chopsticks. She plopped it back down to join the other pieces that were unevenly cut. Minjoo groaned, " _Don't_ , I already hear enough from Yujinie and Eunbi-unnie. I swear my knife skills are _better_."

She ignored Yuri’s chuckle and how she pointedly poked at each piece with her chopsticks in favour of flipping the toasted bread in her own pan. A beautifully coloured golden-brown greeted her instead of the charred black she came back to before. A sigh of relief left her lips, at least they weren't going to waste more bread. She continued to toast while Yuri cooked the rest of the ingredients and belted out another song that came to her mind.

Minjoo's eyes drifted over, observing the vocalist next to her. Despite the two of them being next to each other, Yuri seemed to be enjoying herself in her own world, tossing and turning slices of spam (that she cut nicely, _thank you_ ) while singing. It reminded her when the two of them, along with Chaewon and Wonyoung, baked together for one of the episodes of their ‘Arcade’ series. Except this time, it was... _different_. It was just the two of them, a kitchen with ingredients, and an air of music provided by their voices and hums.

"There's something domestic about this, isn't there?" Yuri suddenly asked as she finished one of the trendy songs she was singing to. Her eyes glanced at Minjoo; a smile turned on her lips. "We're like a couple."

Minjoo blinked, startled by how Yuri expressed her own thoughts so easily, like they were the same person. She always complimented on Yuri’s ability to express herself well and this implication made her flush. She elbowed her playfully, " _Y-Yah_ , don't say it like _that_." She mumbled through reddened cheeks. "It is nice though."

" _Gosh_ , you're so uptight _Min_." Yuri's laughter filled the atmosphere. "Despite what everyone thinks, you're totally the awkward Dad. I'll be the cool Mom then."

Thoughts started to swarm her head, _Dad_? **_Mom_** _?_ Just how many Internet novels did Yuri read?

Minjoo started fanning herself but found her voice quickly to retort back. “Y-You, a _Mom_? I can already imagine Chaeyeon-unnie rolling on the floor and laughing for ten minutes straight. You’re just a brat.”

Yuri huffed, "I'm not! I am very kind, caring, and know how to make a sandwich unlike some people."

"Okay wait. That was one instance—"

"Don't fight you two~"

Yuri grunted when a weight flopped onto her back and small _"aaah~"_ came after. Minjoo blinked at the sudden appearance of the Japanese member they were talking to earlier, who cuddled up to Yuri very easily. Yuri sighed as she fished a piece of spam out, blew on it to cool it down, and plopped it into Nako's mouth. "You're not Tomi, we don't have to listen to you."

" _munch_ No, you don't. _munch_ I just wanted to try saying that. " Nako laughed as she peeled away from Yuri's back, mumbling something along the lines of “ _Wow that was actually kind of fun._ ” She grinned at the two of them, peering into both of their pans. "Hii-chan said she's hungry though and wants to know what you're making."

"Sandwiches. With _strawberry jam._ "

Nako shivered, "I'll let her know. But knowing how hungry she is she'll probably take a bite or two. Thanks _Mom and Dad_!" She skipped out with a laugh.

Yuri rolled her eyes and Minjoo just stared back and forth from their pans to the door on the other side of the dorm.

"... Did she actually..."

"At least we have a lot of bread."

They stared at each other, the two different thoughts that came together made them laugh before they got to work, assembling the sandwiches for the other hungry members in the dorm.

While Minjoo liked meat, and she would have honestly loved to finally get her meat meal from Yuri, she couldn’t exactly shove away how much she enjoyed being able to cook alongside Yuri. It was another precious memory that she’ll keep close to her heart with a silent prayer for more quiet days like this with the two of them, a kitchen, some tunes, and maybe a couple of pesky _children_.

* * *

**[IZONE** ❤️ **]**

**chaeyeon:** hey did anyone throw away burnt bread? the garbage really smells in our dorm.

 **eunbi:** ? did you say burnt bread?

 **chaeyeon:** yeah i don't recall us having bread in our dorm so i was curious.

 **kkura:** nope, didn't buy any bread today

 **hitomi:** I wish we did 😔

 **hitomi:** The sandwiches were surprisingly good though! Thank you Minjoo, Yuri, you two are surprisingly good cooks.

 **yuri:** what do you mean by _surprisingly_

 **hitomi:** Well, remember last time when we were making—

 **wonyoung:** o nononon, please don't start that again—

 **nako:** kekekek

 **eunbi:** wait— _minjoo_? **_bread_**?

 **yena:** .

 **chaewon:** .

 **hyewon:** .

 **yujin:** .

 **eunbi:** kim minjoo, did you throw away bread even though it was clearly stated not to—

_minjoo has left the group chat._

**chaewon:** ?!

 **yena:** ONONONO

 **yujin:** minjoo-unnie noooo, we'll save you from the gallows—

 **hyewon:** uh, eunbi-unnie just left the room...

 **hyewon:** run minguri.

**chaeyeon:** ... so uh, the burnt bread guys?

 **hitomi:** How could you burn bread? It should be a crime...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: no bread was harmed in the making. 
> 
> thank you for all the kudos, comments, and support and love you give me and to the rest of my works! i hope you continue to enjoy them.


	4. disappearing americanos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When living with 5 others, you develop some habits that may not have existed before. For Nako, she developed a dangerous habit of stealing just small bites or sips of her members food or drinks. Caught red-handed one day, she convinced one of the other members to give it a try...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this just became how many references i can jam into one piece. it's rather self-indulgent, but i hope you enjoy. thank you always for reading!

Living with 5 others (Plus 6 more who can come and go as they please) was something very, very strange to Nako. She wasn't used to living with others except family, but it was an experience she would never forget—the late-night food parties, the random dancing, the "pass-around-the-responsibilities" until Lee "Mom" Chaeyeon yelled at you or Miyawaki "Dad" Sakura threatened to throw your stuff away. 

(Yuri and Wonyoung were guilty for that, Nako always kept her space tidy.)

But when you lived with 5 other individuals, you learn about their habits very fast. Nako knew who was always up first to use the bathroom, who always needed help waking up before they were rudely awakened by either their manager or Eunbi, who labeled all their things, who was always _singing_ –

Actually, _she_ was always singing; picking up Yuri's habit after they moved dorms. 

And finally, who to _never_ trust when ordering pizza _._

_"Yuri—" Nako started, having to hold a hand to her chest to stop her heart from bursting out. "It's one thing to put pineapple on pizza, but to put pineapple and olives—this is an **attack**."_

_Yuri tossed her hamster cushion, the clean hit forcing Nako to collapse on the couch. "You've been hanging out with Minjoo too much, who, by the way, ordered the pizza." She passed Hitomi a plate before going over to her phone to contact said member to come down and get her pizza. Over the argument that ensued over Yuri’s phone—something about the pizza supposed to be going to the other dorm and not theirs, Hitomi sat down, nibling at the pizza in front of Nako._

_“It’s not that bad.” She said, holding up the partially eaten slice to Nako, the cheese oozing downwards slowly with pineapples and olives gleaming in the light. “There’s a nice sweet and salty taste to it with some crunch.”_

_“Pizza shouldn’t be sweet, Hii-chan.” Nako said, rolling onto her stomach and pushing the piece away from her with a shake of her head. Hitomi shrugged and nibbled on it without another word, enjoying the free food._

  
  
Nako liked to think she had an excellent palette after that disaster. If (some of) the other members could like pineapple on pizza, then her liking mint chocolate ice cream was completely fine and showed her refined tastes. It’s not like she _always_ stuck to mint chocolate ice cream or any of the food she was familiar with—she always ate a variety of delicious food, unlike Sakura, who ate the same thing for months on end sometimes.

_"You want dumpling ramyeon with a can of milkis for breakfast, **again**?"_

_Nako groggily passed Sakura and Chaeyeon's room, overhearing a deep sigh of exasperation. She peered into the room, curious because it was rare for Chaeyeon to sigh like that, especially around Sakura. If they weren’t quietly in their own world while sitting next to each other, they were in an engaging and lighthearted conversation. So, to hear at least one of them on the edge of being upset, was concerning._

_She spotted Chaeyeon towering over the Sakura-shaped lump in bed, phone in her hand._

_That explained everything. Chaeyeon wasn’t upset, just…confused and probably a tiny, tiny bit disappointed in Sakura’s food choices._

_Nako’s stomach rumbled lightly and she grinned, maybe she could get something out of this._

_"Chaeyeon-unnie, are you ordering breakfast? Can you get me a—"_

_"Go away, Nako." Sakura's muffled voice came from beneath the sheets, "Chaeyeon is ordering me breakfast—"_

Living in Korea opened up Nako's doors to even more cuisine unimaginable to her—who knew that fried chicken could come in a variety of flavors. Who knew you could eat octopus _live._

(She still well-believed she would die of suffocation if she swallowed one and it grabbed onto the side of her throat. It felt like a fate worse than dying by choking on mochi.)

It also helped that Nako had a food buddy in Kang Hyewon, who recommended or took her to all the delicious food places (except for the one time she betrayed her for her _roommate._ Nako will never let it go, no matter how many times Eunbi tried to bribe her with ice cream—just to steal it next week.). The other members also contributed to helping her in various of ways. 

Which was “letting” her have bites of their dishes when they ordered food together.

_It was an aged-old argument, one that could last for days among Koreans._

_Eunbi explained over Nako’s slurp of jajangmyeon. It went far back, starting from the Joseon period--_

_“Eunbi-unnie, dip or pour?” Yena suddenly asked, interrupting Nako’s impromptu Korean history lesson as she sat next to Eunbi, her own bowl of jajangmyeon in her hands._

_“Dip of course, do you think I’m a barbarian—”_

_“That’s not nice, Unnie!” Minjoo cried indignantly, a hand firmly gripping the white container of sauce, as it hovered threateningly over the plate of pork they ordered. Nako watched in amusement as Eunbi’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint in her eyes while she watched Minjoo’s hand carefully. “We should be able to express our opinions, free of slander and condemnation—”_

_“You’re not going to win, Minjoo-unnie.” Yujin piped up as she sat next to Minjoo, grabbing the sauce before she could “accidentally” pour it. “Especially if Eunbi-unnie tells Hyewon-unnie, and you know roommate culture and all.”_

_“Who says what—Kim Minjoo, get your hands away from the sauce before you pour it over the pork!”_

_Hyewon slowly walked into the room at first, but as soon as she spotted Minjoo trying to grab the sauce container back from Yujin, she zoomed over, taking the plate of pork before it could be destroyed. “You pourers, just go order your own!”_

_“Why can’t we split it in half?”_

_“Because then there won’t be enough--”_

_The aged-old argument broke out again, the members of IZ*ONE heatedly defending their preferences regarding eating tangsuyuk. Nako took a piece of pork when Hyewon wasn’t looking, eating it with her jajangmyeon while trying to keep up with the arguments._

_“What’s going on? Are they fighting over food again?”_

_Sakura asked, as she took one side of Nako and Hitomi came up from behind, taking the other. She was more focussed on her food, hungry from their practice._

_“They’re arguing over pouring or dipping the sweet and sour sauce.” Nako filled in, leaning over, and stealing a few strings of noodles from Hitomi’s jjamppong. She whined, pushing Nako away and telling her to get her own._

_“That again? It’s just the takenoko versus kinoko argument we have back in Japan.” Sakura noted, slurping her own noodles. She batted Nako away when she tried to reach over since Hitomi refused to share. “Which, of course, takenoko is the best.”_

_“Really, Kkura-unnie?” Hitomi suddenly slid in after a couple of slurps. “Kinoko is better though.”_

_Nako blinked from her noodles, feeling the tension tighten from both of her sides. She glanced between the two other Japanese members, noticing glares comparable to the Korean members who were **still** arguing about how to eat sweet and sour pork._

_“I’m telling Chaeyeon we’re disowning you if you keep that up, Hii-chan.”_

_Hitomi snorted, “She would never—I’m her number one child.”_

_Sakura placed her bowl down, shrugging. “She pushed you out of a V Live with her feet, anything can happen.”_

_From one side, Nako listened to an argument in Korean about dipping and pouring sauce, and the other, she listened to an argument in Japanese about bamboo and mushroom shaped cookies. She was satisfied not being involved with either one, making it easier to swipe food from anyone she wished without being noticed._

Living with the others was nice, Nako concluded. And she started to develop a habit of taking one or two bites from the other’s food because somehow—it was always tastier if you bit off someone else’s dish or sneak a sip of their drink.

* * *

It’s not rare for others from the other dorm to come down to use their things or hang out in their dorm, just like how sometimes they would go up to the other dorm and do the exact same thing. The former happened more often because their dorm was considerably _cleaner_ than the other one—according to Eunbi, the kids left clothes everywhere on the floor.

(Hyewon refuted Eunbi’s statement later during one of their lunch dates, claiming that Eunbi also left her clothes on the floor in their room. She showed Nako photo proof of it, stuffed animals in their room huddled around a pile and staring “disappointingly” at the pairs of jeans and the sweater.)

Minjoo crashed their dorm one day, eager to try out the coffee machine that Yujin mentioned numerous of times. When Nako asked about hers in their dorm (she swore they were the same machine but a different colour because Wonyoung insisted that they get a specific colour, or else her coffee would taste different.), she claimed it wasn’t the same. 

“I know Chaeyeon-unnie labels her things but,” Minjoo's voice became louder as she stepped out of the kitchen holding up a white mug. Nako was tapping away at her phone, Super Star IZ*ONE more fascinating than her group member's coffee adventure. "Why is there a ‘Hitomi’ label on some of the mugs?” 

"She started labeling her things because they kept going missing." Nako replied after a beat, her concentration clearly on the game and not on Minjoo's contemplative hum. 

"That reminds me…" Minjoo's voice faded away, overpowered by the coffee machine brewing her Americano. Nako paid no mind to it, tapping away at her phone to the addictive beat.

By the time the song finished and Nako was scrolling for a new song, the cushion by her feet sunk and a soft tap of nails against the acrylic mug (with ‘Hitomi’ clearly written at the bottom) caught her attention. She glanced upwards, seeing Minjoo staring at her with a thoughtful gaze. Seeing no harm, her eyes moved back to her phone, and she started tapping away as a new song played.

…

"Have you heard? Tomi has been complaining about a coffee thief."

The _coffee thief_ , the perp who forced Hitomi's hand into making labels for her things. Despite that, she still found herself with less coffee than she originally made. It's not surprising Minjoo knew, Hitomi probably told her when she retreated to the other dorm one day, frustrated at her missing coffee among other things. 

Over the quick beats of _Fiesta_ , Nako just said "Oh?" 

"She said that someone has been taking a sip of her coffee when she wasn't looking."

Nako paused, pretending to be entranced by the passing notes on screen as she tapped away. Her mind however, flickered to a memory of a Private Mail she sent back.

 _I don't really have the confidence to try Americano, so I'll just keep taking it from the members little by little_ 😚 

A fleeting thought of a curse word coupled with _is this karma_ floated by, but she knew she couldn’t (or rather, wouldn’t) admit to it so easily. She swallowed quickly, trying to uphold the conversation with Minjoo. “It could be Yuri. Chaeyeon-unnie made her confess to opening and stealing sips of her Pocari Sweat.”

Nako was thankful for her roommate and all the (bad) habits she had around their dorm. They made for comedic moments that could be put together in a sit-com and pulled attention away from her.

Her concentration was broken when she felt Minjoo shift and suddenly she was towering over her, mug left abandoned on their table. Minjoo slightly lowered the phone in her hand, smirking. 

That made her miss her combo. Nako just shot Minjoo a defiant look. 

"Yuri would be pushed away before getting close to Tomi—Chaeyeon-unnie and Kkura-unnie would make sure of it—it's you, isn't it?" 

Nako arched a brow, swallowing as she kept her gaze steady on Minjoo. "Where's your proof?"

" _Well_ ," Minjoo leaned back, giving Nako breathing room as she took her (Hitomi's) mug and sipped the Americano. "Oh, this is very good." She held the mug out to Nako and naturally, Nako took it, raising one side to her lips, taking in the familiar aroma and a sip of the bitterness that was a black Americano. 

"Wonyoungie drank coffee way before Tomi, so she would make her own. Kkura-unnie and Chaeyeon-unnie barely drink Americanos, _so_ …"

She was caught red-handed with taking a sip out of the _familiar_ mug, which made it _even worst_. She choked as Minjoo pointed a finger. The mug slipped out of her hands and back into Minjoo’s awaiting smug lips.

She should have known that her act would be caught one day. She just couldn’t imagine being caught by _Kim Minjoo_ out of all people.

“I was a coward,” Nako started, smacking her lips together to get rid of the taste of the Americano, “it always seemed so mature to drink Americanos, so I wanted to try it too, but I couldn’t bring myself to drink an entire cup.” She gestured towards Minjoo’s cup with a sigh.

“So, I resorted to stealing sips from others after Yuri’s whole Pocari Sweat incident.” She clicked her tongue, not bothering to hide the slightly upwards curl of her lips. “I thought she was onto something because it was always more delicious when it came from the others compared to what you make on your own.”

To prove her own point, she leaned forward, resting a hand against Minjoo’s wrist and taking a sip from her cup without a word. Minjoo blinked rapidly, “ _Yah_ , you don’t need to take mine—” She tried to tug it away from Nako but was too scared to hurt the other member.

Nako let go with a satisfied sigh, _it really did taste the best when it was from others_. She grinned at Minjoo who stared in confusion between the now half-cup of Americano to her. “You should try it some time, Minjoo. I’ll even help.”

* * *

Minjoo didn’t even need Nako’s help, it just kind of _happened_.

“You two came back with more drinks despite finishing what we had already?”

Nako asked, pointing at Hyewon and Yuri’s hands that held an assortment of drinks. They ranged from bubble tea to smoothies to coffee—if Nako didn’t know who they were (probably) for, she would think the two were on the way to becoming a catering service. The drinks were shoved into hers and Minjoo’s hands, along with Yuri strapping a white plastic bag to Minjoo’s wrist.

“They’re not just for us. There’s stuff for _everyone._ ” Yuri protested, bending over quickly to take a sip of the Americano that was in Minjoo’s hands. “You know if only Yena-unnie is seen with the candied fruits, then some of the other members are going to ask _what about me?_ ”

“You mean Chaewon-unnie.” Minjoo said, knowing that the roommates were linked, and if one was treated better than the other, there was going to be some (playful) complaints. Her eyes traced downwards to the opening of the white bag weighing down her wrist. “There’s a lot of candied fruits in here…”

“Peace offerings.” Hyewon explained with a shrug and tugged on Yuri’s arm, “We have to go back and get the rest of the drinks. I don’t think I can handle both Kkura and Eunbi-unnie nagging me if we don’t get theirs.”

Nako snickered behind the cup she held, ignoring Hyewon’s pointed glare. With another insistent tug, the two members left again to get the drinks from the shop where they bought their candied fruit. She glanced at Minjoo beside her, who was curiously staring into the bag. “I thought I only saw grapes and strawberries for Yena-unnie, but there’s a single stick of cherries…”

The Japanese member recalled Yuri grumbling about how she owed Minjoo _cherries_ on top of the other food receipts after their ASMR recording was finished and laughed quietly. “Those are probably for you, Minjoo. She did say she was going to buy you some.”

Minjoo blinked, glancing downwards at the bag with a soft ‘ _she did?_ ’ and remembered too. Her cheeks glowed a soft pink, a small smile formed on her lips. “She always remembers.”

“Unfortunately.” Nako butted in, quickly turning the conversation. “I’m pretty sure she figured out I was the one taking Hii-chan’s coffee. _But_ this is a good chance for you.” She gestured towards the Americano in Minjoo’s grasped—the same one that Yuri _just_ sipped from _._

Minjoo blinked in confusion and Nako grinned. “Remember, _the best tasting food is when it’s not yours._ ” She reminded and even shoved the cup closer to her. “Go on.”

It’s like watching your friend try to do something you teach them—where they hesitate at first because they’re unsure of how to do it on their own or if they can do it, but when they do, the absolute look of satisfaction on their face makes you smile too.

And that’s exactly how Nako felt after watching Minjoo’s eyes light up after taking a sip from Yuri’s Americano.

“I can’t believe it, you _are_ right. This Americano tastes way better than the one I had before—and I thought that one was amazing.”

Nako smiled, “Now you understand _and_ won’t tell Hii-chan about her missing coffee because you’re just as equally guilty as I am.” Her smile widened when Minjoo’s face contorted to shock and betrayal after.

“Yabuki Nako, you’re actually _black mailing_ me—"

The conversation was dropped quickly when their heard the returning footsteps of their members. Minjoo was lucky that Yuri didn’t notice her straw slightly smudged with Minjoo’s lipstick and a very tiny bit of her Americano missing.

* * *

“Have you been stealing sips of my coffee?!”

Nako pulled off her headphones, “Pardon?” she asked, confused at the sudden accusation after Yuri stomped into their practice room, coming back from her snack break. She held up a plastic cup.

“This was _here_ ” she pointed at an invisible line near the top of the cup, “and now it’s _here_.” And her finger lowered to the current position of the drink inside—a considerable amount missing in between.

“I didn’t notice it at first, but… this is _too_ much _,_ Yako.” Yuri brought a hand up to her face, wiping away the fake tears from her eyes. “I thought we were friends, _tomodachi_ , _roommates_. We had a special pact, but it didn’t involve stealing my coffee—”

“ _Stop it._ ” Nako hissed and threw her sweater at Yuri, watching it briefly cover her face. “I didn’t drink your coffee—you have no proof.” It was like deja vu having to say that line again.

“I don’t, but I know you steal Hii-chan’s.” She shrugged, tossing Nako her sweater back before joining her on the ground. “I just assumed it’s you.”

“ _You have no proof—_ ”

“Everyone knows, Yako.” Yuri interrupted with a shake of her head, “We all read your private mail. Hii-chan just didn’t want to confront you about it.”

Nako frowned, now feeling guilty that she had been sneaking the sips of coffee behind Hitomi’s back this entire time. She wanted to know why Hitomi didn’t choose to talk to her about it, instead she went on tirades in the other dorm about her missing coffee and labelled all her things in their dorm.

“She probably didn’t mind, Hii-chan always had a soft spot for you.” Yuri suggested, able to read her thoughts easily by how Nako furrowed her brow and the downward pull of her lips. She brought the straw to her lips, taking a sip of the coffee. “We all do—we all have soft spots for each other, despite all the things we do.”

Yuri had a point, no matter how much she annoyed Chaeyeon, that never stopped the dancer from making her honey water to help her throat.

A defeated sigh escaped Nako’s lips—this was the day she would confess to her crimes she supposed. She turned towards Yuri, about to agree with her until her eyes caught something written on Yuri’s cup.

_Hitomi_

She blinked.

“Has anyone seen my coffee—Yuri!?”

Hitomi came into the practice room, pointing at the cup in Yuri’s hands—the Hangul characters _Hitomi_ clearly written on it. “Did you steal my drink?!”

Yuri was about to protest until she saw the name written on the other side of the plastic cup. Her face turned white almost instantly and she feebly held it up to Hitomi. “T-This isn’t what it seems…!”

“When I thought I figured out who the coffee thief was, _you_ decide to—”

Nako slowly shuffled backwards as Hitomi stomped over to them, falling into a one-sided argument with Yuri about the coffee in her hands. A slow smile formed on her lips while she watched them silently.

She really was thankful for her roommate. 

* * *

_"A wise fairy told me that the best tasting food is when it’s not yours. So, coffee is the best when it's Yuri's."_   
  


Chaewon furrowed her brows as they concluded the V Live. Yena disappeared out of the room with their manager, begging her to get the admins to delete it because they saw her bare face. It left her and Minjoo alone, the latter busy munching on the cookies that her and Eunbi ~~stole~~ kindly took from their fan signing. 

"I don't remember saying the food and coffee thing to you, Minjoo." The words about taking people’s food echoing in her mind. She remembered the bit about coffee and tried to recall the last time she even drank it. 

"You're not the only fairy in our group, Unnie." Minjoo replied, swallowing the rest of the cookie. "Give it a try some time, it's actually _really_ good _unfortunately_." Her voice hushed after as she tried to bury her face away from the guilt.

Chaewon couldn’t refute her claim, knowing that Minjoo—or whoever gave her that advice—was right to a degree. When there were so many girls who lived with each other, they were bound to share things like food and clothes. There was one last point that Chaewon thought was suspicious, "also, why did you _specifically_ mention Yuri?" 

Minjoo stared at her, blinking many times that she noticed (unlike their staring contest from earlier but she was going to pretend she was giving Minjoo a chance). Her lips opened partially, but no answer came out. Chaewon was about to ask her question again, but the bed creaked and bounced slightly—Minjoo was slowly stepping towards the door.

"Well, Unnie. Um sometimes you just… have to pick and choose your battles." That didn’t even make _sense_ , what food battles was Minjoo involved with Yuri _now?_

It was easy to see red creeping up Minjoo's neck, which made Chaewon even _more_ suspicious. "I think I will retire to bed early tonight.” Minjoo hastily said, trying to smile at her as she grabbed at air, looking for the doorknob. “Have a good night, Chaewon-unnie. Thanks for the cookie, enjoy Yena-unnie's teakettle mimicry!" Her hand fully grasped the knob and swung the door open.

Just like that, Minjoo disappeared from her room. Chaewon stared at the empty space before shrugging.

Guess she would have to try it some time.


End file.
